When the fish settles down, you can grab the leader and get into position to retrieve the hook.

>Poling: Silent Propulsion

You can’t expect to be a successful tarpon angler by staking out every time. You are also going to need to pole the flats to search for fish when staking out is not a viable option. That means you’ll need a partner who can handle himself both at the helm and on the poling platform. Poling for tarpon is unlike poling for any other species. For starters, the fish are in deeper water, usually 4 to 10 feet, so you’ll often end up poling in 6 or 8 feet of water. And they move much faster, so you’ll sometimes need to really lean on the pole with some muscle.

Complementing human power with that of electric trolling motors will help you intercept fish and catch up to schools that may have passed you by before you could get the right angle for a cast. The electrics will also come in handy when crossing a deep channel that separates two flats.

Ultimately, though, nothing is as quiet as your pushpole, so poling should be your main source of propulsion when you are looking for targets for your lures or flies.

Perhaps the toughest thing for a poler will be turning the boat properly to give a fly caster clearance and the best position with respect to the direction of the wind. Fly hopefuls will probably have better success with a fellow fly rodder willing to share equal time at the platform and the casting deck.

Fighting Technique

Plenty has been said about the tarpon’s great jumping ability, and about the need to “bow the rod” to avoid broken lines or tippets when a hooked fish takes to the air. But much like the phrase “supply and demand” from your high school economics class, that’s about all most beginners remember about tarpon fishing a couple of weeks after watching a video or reading an article on the subject. So, before moving on to fighting tactics, let’s talk about the hookset.

First, your hooks need to be very sharp. Even the sharpest hooks out of the box will need a touch-up with a file to form the triangular edges that will help them penetrate that rock-hard jaw. You’ll still need to strike forcefully to set the hook, but there is always a limit; experts know just how much sudden pressure their rod and line can stand before parting. Don’t strike too soon when your lure or fly disappears inside the mouth of a tarpon. Keep your cool and keep reeling or stripping line until you actually feel fish; then strike.

While there are several theories about the way one ought to set the hook on a tarpon, I’ve found that three or four quick jabs with the rod butt works better than a single hard strike—or “high-striking” with the rodtip, which gets you by with many smaller species. No matter which you opt for, you should always strike tarpon by swinging the rod sideways, parallel to the surface of the water. That way, should you happen to miss, the lure or fly will travel forward, but remain in the water where an aggressive tarpon may take another whack at it.

If the fly rod is your weapon of choice, be sure to pull on the rod sideways with one hand and yank on the fly line with the other. If you’ve never done it, you may think you won’t have time to clutch the fly line in your stripping hand long enough to hit a tarpon three or four times. With practice, you’ll develop the necessary timing.

After you’ve driven the hook home, you should think about nothing other than clearing your fly line. At that point your eyes should be focused on the line coiled on the casting deck near your feet. Your rod should be held up high, with the butt tight against your forearm. And the arm with your line hand should be extended down and away from the reel, with your fingers open barely enough to let the fly line slide through under pressure to prevent tangles. When you come to the last coil, be sure to escort the departing fly line with your hand all the way to the reel before you finally go on the offensive, and then redirect your focus on the fish.

Flyreel drags should be set at only a quarter of the tippet’s test. With fast-running fish like tarpon, the drag created by the thick fly line cutting through the water can easily double the amount of actual drag pressure. You are better off applying extra pressure on demand by palming the spool. Horsing a fish is a sure way to lose him, but applying too little pressure on a tarpon means a long fight, often more exhausting to the angler, and more opportunities for Mr. Murphy to let his law play a villain role in the struggle.

Sometimes a hooked fish will rejoin its schoolmates after the initial acrobatics. Lots of big wagging tails, fins and sharp gill plates around your tight line or tippet is not exactly a safe proposition. Do everything you can to turn or slow your tarpon so it can no longer keep up with the rest of the school. The trick to winning a fight with a tarpon is to apply constant, even pressure. It is crucial to make the fish work for every yard it swims, so try to fight from a dead boat as much as possible. Only use the motor when the fish makes a long run and you need to gain a lot of line and get on top of the fish in a hurry. As long as a tarpon is taking line or towing the boat, it is expending valuable energy. But don’t let him rest; keep changing angles by applying side pressure with the rod to keep the fish from settling and getting comfortable.

Try to gain line anytime the fish stops running. Long tugs of war where neither you nor the fish are gaining line favor the tarpon, since it is getting a chance to recuperate while you are probably straining. You’ll put more hurt on a fish with the thick part of the rod near the grips; leaning back and bending the tip actually does little other than tire you out. You’ll be able to apply the most direct pressure when the fish is less than 100 yards away, so you should really put on the heat then. But don’t make the mistake of tightening the drag; a sudden surge could easily put an anticlimactic end to a lengthy battle that, seconds earlier, you appeared to be winning.

Finishing the Fight

Pump the fish in with short, quick lateral strokes, palming the spool of your reel whenever you feel you can apply a little extra pressure. As the fish begins to tire and gets closer to the boat, dip the rodtip in the water from time to time. That’s known as the “down and dirty,” and it is extremely effective because it forces the fish to exert its muscles to deal with the low angle pull, something tarpon are not really prepared for. You’ll be surprised at how you can often flip huge tarpon in the water with this tactic, and you’ll often notice bubbles coming from the fish’s mouth when that happens. That means air is leaving its air bladder, so the fish is pretty whipped. It’s time to start getting the lip gaff ready.

Maneuvering the fish to boatside is no easy task. You’ll need to reel in part of the leader so you can lead the fish with your rodtip until your buddy can grab the shock leader or tippet, and gets into position to lip the tarpon. You should back off on the drag at this point. It’s been a long, arduous battle, and your line or tippet has probably weakened; plus, there will be no line stretch or rod cushion of any sort once you are in a close-quarters situation, and even a halfhearted surge from the fish could prove fatal.

You may need to repeat this procedure two or three times before you finally get hold of the fish, but this is not the time to get overanxious. Take your time and give yourself the chance to finish what you started.

While some anglers and guides now opt for just gripping the fish’s lower lip with gloved hands, lip-gaffing has for decades been the traditional method used to hold a tarpon while it is being unhooked and revived for its release. Because a lip gaff only makes a small incision in the membrane inside the fish’s lower jaw, lip gaffing is considered pretty safe for the fish. The right way to lip gaff a tarpon is from the inside out; you stick the gaff inside the mouth of the fish, and then pull out and down with the point so that the gaff penetrates the membrane behind the lower lip. If a fish shuts its mouth, you can often pry its jaws open with the curved part of the gaff hook without doing any damage. A wrist leash is very helpful on a lip gaff, as it will prevent you from losing the gaff overboard or to a thrashing fish. Make sure, however, that said leash won’t tighten around your wrist. You must be able to shed it easily in case of an emergency.

When you’re comfortable that the fish is under control, remove the hook if you can. If the fish is fully whipped, you’ll probably need to revive it by moving it back and forth through the water. This is a good time to snap a picture; bringing a big tarpon into the boat is considered bad form—risky for you, even riskier for the fish. Always get water rushing through the fish’s gills as soon as possible. That may require that you tow the tarpon slowly under power; use your electrics if you have them—that way you won’t disturb other fish and fishermen in the area.

You’ll know a fish is recovering when its tail begins to sweep from side to side in normal swimming fashion. Seeing the fish regain the use of its dorsal and pectoral fins to stabilize itself in the water is also a very good sign. But be sure the fish is in good shape before you slip the lip gaff out of its mouth. If possible, select a shallow spot to release the fish; if it goes belly up, you can right it and revive a little more.

For many anglers, the thrill of releasing a healthy tarpon to fight again ranks right up there with that first spectacular jump.

FS